Ways to Tell if You Should Find a Child Psychologist

There is no question that successful parenting is a challenging job. A conscientious parent is constantly on the watch to make sure that their child's needs are well taken care of. They are vigilant in making sure they get good nutritious food, a solid education, and every sniffle, sneeze, fall, scrape, or bruise is cared for immediately. While physical and medical needs are often very easy to identify and care for, there are still other problems that a child may need that are not so easily recognized. That's when you may need to decide if your child needs help for a psychological or mental disorder.

How do You Know if Your Child Needs Help?

Some parents will listen to other family members advice on what their child needs, while others will research behavior online to figure out if a particular behavior is normal or not. Many will also search through magazines, books, or any other reference material they can find to determine if they should go a step further. All of those methods have merit and benefit, but the truth is that if you're checking these resources, chances are you've already noticed problems that seem "off" in your child. You are the best barometer for your child's emotions, feelings and behaviors. If you've noticed something you don't feel comfortable about, get help as soon as possible. The longer you delay the more serious the problem could become.

What to Check For?

Sharmistha Barai, a leading Child & Adolescent psychiatrist says that symptoms that you may notice that may signal the need for testing are sleep problems, nightmares, unusual behavior, extreme fear, clinginess, regressed behavior, short attention span, frequent tantrums, unusual aggression, bedwetting, anti-social, hyperactivity and so on. It is quite possible that a child could be demonstrating more than one of these symptoms; the combination could represent a unique signature of a series of problems for each individual child.

What to Expect?

Depending on the diagnosis, some problems will naturally get better as a kid gets older; however, there are others that will stay with them for their entire life. In order to determine the next step you first must get an evaluation. Once you know what the problem is then you can exercise a proper treatment so that you and your child can get through the process with fewer bumps and bruises.

It may be frightening to think that your child has a mental, emotional, or psychological disorder and may need a child psychologist, but it is more frightening to go through it without a diagnosis. Don't think of testing as an attempt to identify a problem, think of it as a means of empowering you to prepare your child for their future. Without a diagnosis a parent is not able to teach or train their child how to adapt to their particular circumstances.